1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and system that acquire, from a surveillance camera, image data and data (i.e., metadata) related to the image data, subject the metadata to filtering, and output a result of surveillance based on a result of the filtering. The present invention also relates to a filter setting method employed in the image processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a known surveillance system that includes a surveillance camera and a control device connected to each other via a network. In such a surveillance system, the surveillance camera transmits image data (i.e., data of an image photographed) to the control device via the network. The control device receives and records the image data, and analyzes the image data to detect occurrence of an abnormality and output an alarm. Thus, an operator is able to conduct surveillance while checking a surveillance image displayed on a monitor and the alarm outputted by the control device.
In recent years, surveillance cameras not only transmit the image data (i.e., the data of the image photographed) to the control device but also have a function of generating metadata (e.g., alarm information, temperature information, or information of the angle of view of the camera) related to the image data and transmitting the metadata to the control device. In a surveillance system using such a surveillance camera, the control device passes the metadata supplied from the surveillance camera through a metadata filter in which a specific condition for outputting the alarm is set, and outputs the alarm if the condition is satisfied. Examples of the condition set in the metadata filter include conditions for detecting, as an abnormality, intrusion of a suspicious substance into a particular place, a moving object passing over a particular boundary line, etc.
Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2003-274390 describes a technique for supplying image data of a surveillance image from a surveillance terminal (i.e., a surveillance camera) to a surveillance device via a network and, for example, checking a surveillance image at the time of occurrence of an abnormality using the surveillance device.